When Your Rug Has Been Damaged by a Flood


I sympathize if this sounds familiar - you are away from your home for a few days and return to find that a gutter failed and your roof is now leaking; or a pipe burst and your living room is sitting in a foot of water; or your washing machine got angry and your basement flooded.  Not only do you face thousands of dollars worth of repairs to your home, but also probably lose a good amount of furnishings in the process.  Every year, we receive a number of calls from clients who have suffered a similar fate and are desperate to find a fix for their beloved flooded rugs.  If left wet, wool can lose its shape and smell quite badly.  Moreover, a wet rug can have its colors run and bleed into each other as is visible in the photo above.  If left for an extended period of time in sitting water, a rug can even rot (for which there is no remedy unfortunately).
If you should ever suffer such a fate as a flooded rug, it is important to remove the rug from the wet area as soon as possible and lay it flat somewhere dry.  In addition, it is best to have it professionally cleaned as soon as possible.  If you are lucky, a professional cleaning will suffice to address all of the rug's problems associated with the flooding.  However, sometimes it is necessary to do more than just a professional cleaning, including an additional soaking (which is ironic, but note this is a controlled soaking).  A soaking may help with the odor and even sometimes the color run.  Of course, if possible, avoid putting rugs in any areas you know are in danger of getting flooded.  --www.traditionalrugrepair.com